Saturday, April 7, 2018

cats and dogs


Prompt: make a list of your different layers of identity; ways you could be described or lenses through which you could be viewed. Now write a poem in which one of the identities from the list contends or talks with another.

List: Wife mother daughter student friend writer poet playwright journalist retired dog owner cat lover parrot buddy collaborator colleague producer expediter lazy ass woman tea connoisseur dieter napper Clevelander Angeleno Bearcat Trojan sports fan theatergoer flute player piccolo player musician reader news junkie sponsor philanthropic wordsmith drives a Fiat

So:
Dogs are more wont to be owned than cats.
                                           Asking why is futile.
This statement is a fact.
I have never met an owned cat.

Never ask why about a cat.
You might get an answer.
You will not like it.
Always ask why about a dog.
They will oblige.
You still will not like it.

If cats were larger they would eat us.
If dogs were larger…

Cats are stuff doers.
Dogs do stuff.
                                           Do not ask why.
                                                                                      You will not like the answer.
                                          
Cats make biscuits.
                                           Do not tell them.
                                                                                      They will not believe you.
 Dogs like balls.
                                           You do not need to tell them.
                                                                                      They know. They know. They know.

All in all:
Big dogs are lap dogs.                  Cats are uni-sized.
Small dogs yap and bite.              Cats have claws in their paws.
Dogs are stiff.                                 Cats are pliable.                              
Dogs grunt.                                     Cats purr.                                         
Dogs fart.                                        Cats puke hairballs.                        

Owner? Lover? Lover? Owner? Cat? Dog? Dog? Cat?
                                           Do not attempt an answer.
Choice is not possible.
©Karen Casady 2018

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